9 Ways Every Woman Can Save Money on Healthcare

Sick and tired of bloated medical bills? Here's how to lower your costs.

By
Frank Lalli

Feb 8, 2017

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It's not easy to get straight answers about healthcare prices. Only a handful of the nation's 800,000 doctors post their prices in their offices or online. That means you probably won't have any idea how much a procedure or test costs until you get the bill. Reduce the amount you owe with these simple steps.

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Ask questions

When it's time for a yearly physical or checkup, call your insurance provider first to find out what your policy will fully cover, then tell the doctor's office that you're coming in only for those services.

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Request a discount

Before you agree to a recommended test or scan, check healthcarebluebook.com, fairhealthconsumer.org and clearhealthcosts.com to get an idea of how much the procedure should cost. Prior to your appointment, ask your doctor's billing specialist to match or beat it. If the fee is still more than you can afford, inquire about a discount or payment plan.

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Pay cash

Increasingly, providers will charge a lower price for a service than they could eventually collect from insurance companies if a patient pays in cash.

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Cut Rx drug costs

These websites can help you save big bucks at the pharmacy.

GoodRx.com compares the price of your meds at drugstores and big-box retailers near you, and emails you coupons for up to 80% off.

Blinkhealth.com allows you to order discounted medications online and pick them up at a neighborhood drugstore.

Healthwarehouse.com enables you to fill your prescriptions online, often for hefty savings, and have them delivered to you in as little as two days.

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Bring your own medications

The hospital will usually allow you to bring pills from home that you take regularly to control, say, your cholesterol or diabetes. Bring the meds with you and simply ask for permission to take them rather than getting them from the hospital pharmacy.

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Schedule your surgery for early in the week

That way, your doctor will be around for the rest of the week to check on you. Also, light weekend staffs can force you and your doctor to wait longer than usual for lab results and other important services.

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Get copies of your test results

You'll want them for your personal medical records and they'll come in handy when you review your hospital bills.

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Ask for clear goals

Find out what the staff expects from you before they can safely discharge you, such as getting up and down the hall without a walker or climbing a flight of stairs. Then work on those tasks in order to go home sooner.

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Avoid common procedures you may not need

A team of medical researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York concluded that many common primary care services are of little benefit to patients. Here are three of the top services that the team said are over-performed, overprescribed—and waste billions of dollars.

Imaging for minor back pain: Routine X-rays, CT scans and MRIs don't improve symptoms and may lead to more unnecessary tests.

Save: $150 on a back X-ray, $300 on a CT scan and $350 on an MRI.

Cervical cancer screening: Cervical cancer can take 10 to 20 years to develop. Women of average risk from ages 21 to 30 can safely wait three years between Pap smears; 31 to 65, every five years (with HPV testing); over 65, skip the test.

Save: $200 per Pap smear.

Bone density scans: Researchers say this test makes sense for women over 65 and men over 70 because fracture risk increases with age, but not for healthy younger people.

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